Discharge-gate for slime-thickeners.



W. E. DARROW.

DISCHARGE GATE FOR SLSME THICKENERS.

APPLICATION mm APR. 7. 1911.

1 ,279,84:5. Patented Sept. 24, 1918 1 1 HH mg IN VENTOR.

W555..- 14515 flgfialrow WILTON E. DARROW, or SUTTER CREEK, CALIFORNIA.

" DISCHARGE-GATE FOR SLIME-VTHICKENERS.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 24,1918.

Application'filed April 7, 1917-. Serial N 0. 160,421.-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WiL'roN E. DARRow, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sutter Creek, in the county of Amador, State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Discharge- Gates for Slime-Thickeners; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this application.

This invention relates to improvements 1n slime thickeners used in connection with slime concentrating apparatus. The object of the invention is to produce a thickener having an automatic outlet gate controlled by the rise and fall of the settling slime.

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and inexpensive device and yet one which will be exceedingly effective for the purposes for which it is designed.

These objects I accomplish by means of such structure and relative arrangement of parts as will fully appear-by a perusal of the following specification and claim.

In the drawings similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views. 7

Figure 1 is a sectional view of the thickener receptacle showing my improved gate 7 control mechanism therein.

Fig. 2 is a top plan v1ew of the control blades.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on the drawings the numeral 1 designates the thickening receptacle which is substantially funnel shaped and provided with an outlet opening 2 communicating with a discharge pipe 3. A ball 4 constructed of rubber or any other desired material forms a valve for the outlet 2 and is guided on a pin 5 having an adjustable nut 6 at its lower end whereby the position of the ball 4 may be regulated at will. Secured to the ball 4 is an upright rod 7 connected at its upper end with a lever 8 having an adjustable weight 9 at its outer end whereby the ball valve 4 may be balanced so as to operate easily under the influence of the automatic control blades in a manner as will presently appear.

On the rod 7 at a point above the valve 4 is a disk 10 which causes the settling slimes to feed into the outlet from all sides of the receptacle so as to prevent any tendency of I the same to pack or settle unevenly on or against the valve.

My improved automatic control consists of a series of blades 11 fixed to the rod 7 above the disk 10. These blades are inclined slightly from their lower to their upper edges in a manner similar to propeller blades so as to present the inclined surfaces to the rise and fall of the settling slime.

The slimes and water are fed in the receptacle 1 through a suitable inlet trough 12. The heavier particles of the slime tend to settle toward the valved outlet 2 while the water overflows into an overflow trough 13 and is carried away through any suitable outlet valve 14. The settling slime forms a mass in the bottom of the receptacle 1 which rises and falls relative to the inclined blades 11. The central rod v7 with the attached valve 4 is, in practice, given a slow rotary motion by means of a belt driving a sheave 15 fixed to the said rod 7. With this rotary motion the inclined blades 11 slide up over the settled mass of material. This lifts the valve 4 open and allows the settled material to move gradually out of the receptacle 1. As it moves out this allows the valve to move toward closed position. Thus since the valve is nearly balanced by the weight 9 the action of the device is to hold the valve in nearly the same plane at all times. This allows the settled material to discharge continuously regardless of volume. If no material was admitted into the receptacle 1 thevalve 4 would be revolved around in closed position but would be ralsed as soon as there was an accumulation of settled material having a' vice as substantially fulfils the object of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in devention as defined by the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: i i

The combination with an inverted cone shaped receptacle h avingan outlet in the apex thereof, of a ball adapted to close the outlet, a rod extending upwardly from the ball, a stationary guide rod slidable in the ball under the same and in a line with the first mentioned rod a disk on the rod, a v 10 radially pro ecting inclined blade member above the disk, a lever fulcrumed to the receptacle at the top thereof; one end of the leyer being pivoted to the top of the rod, and the other end being Weighted to almost counter-balance the eight of the rod and the attachments thereon, and means for imparting a sloW rotary motion to the rod and the blades and disk thereon.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

WILTON E. DARROVV.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

' Washington, D42." 

